If fighting zombies in an abandoned mansion or hunting down treasures on a cursed pirate ship is your idea of fun, then grab your squad and head down to Sandbox VR!
Located on the fifth level of Orchard Central, this VR (Virtual Reality) experience is guaranteed to blow your mind.
Unlike other VR free-roaming gaming arenas, Sandbox VR combines cutting-edge, movie-quality motion capture technology with the latest VR hardware, you’ll be “teleported” to a dimension of your choice — as of now, the two available games are Curse of Davy Jones and Deadwood Mansion.
Each game will last for approximately 30 minutes, with the length varying according to how far you advance in the game.
You’ll have to arrive 15 minutes earlier as you’ll be required to sign an e-waiver form!
After a short briefing, we were each given four motion-capture gears to strap on to our wrists and ankles — giving us full control of our avatars.
We were then led to a green screen studio where we were further geared up with VR headsets and headphones.
Attached to each of our haptic vests was a PC that powers the VR headset.
Now, we’re all set and ready to go!
Deadwood Mansion
After being “transported” into a holodeck, we were each allowed to select our weapons of choice.
We had a little “fun” testing out our weapons on one another. And what really caught us by surprise was the haptic feedback from the vests.
It enabled us to feel the heat and vibration on the exact spot where we were shot, which made the experience even more incredible.
It was all fun and games for us until our surroundings changed and we were immersed in an alternate reality. With the dark and eerily realistic setup, we knew that some serious sh*t was going down.
True enough, it was just seconds before we were surrounded by the living dead… And in that exact moment, we knew we were f*cked.
As for the game itself, I would not go on to divulge too much of the details as you definitely have to experience it for yourself!
Curse of Davy Jones
Like the previous game, we were given the liberty to choose our own weapons, different from the ones in Deadwood Mansion.
Additionally, the leader was given a flame torch, which would be useful in later parts of the game.
We were also able to choose our own avatars. And another thing I found pretty cool was how the avatars do actually correspond to the heights of our various team members!
As we were “transported” from the green screen studio to the upper deck of a haunted pirate ship, we could feel the gentle sea breeze.
For this to be possible, fans were installed in the room to simulate the breeze felt in the game.
There was a little bit of chaos initially as we were all huddled at a corner of the ship not knowing what to do. But be sure to brace yourselves for the unknown.
Preoccupied with attempting to take down the skeleton pirates invading our ship, most of us were unaware of the impending doom — which came in the form of Davy Jones’ spirit.
The sudden attack split the group up almost immediately. We soon found ourselves on different ends of the ship deck, attempting to dodge the indestructible ghost.
However, we still had to convene to enter the lower deck of the ship to complete our given task. So if you’re looking for a team-building activity, I would say that this would be a perfect choice.
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As the world’s first hyper-reality escape room, Sandbox VR surely did not disappoint.
Kudos to how the team really went all out to make the experience as realistic as possible — to the point where we found ourselves closing our eyes and screaming our lungs out at certain segments.
I have to say that out of the two games, I preferred Deadwood Mansion as it was far more thrilling. The experience was so realistic that it made me certain I’d never be able to survive a zombie apocalypse.
But don’t just take my word for it, grab your squad and head down for a blasting good time. Be sure to make a booking early as their slots do get snapped up pretty fast!
Price: S$29 per pax (weekdays) & S$39 per pax (weekend)
Sandbox VR: Orchard Central, 181 Orchard Road, #05-31, Singapore 238896 | Tel: +65 9832 5988 | Opening Hours: 11.30am – 10.30pm (Sun to Thurs), 11.30am – 12am (Fri & Sat) | Website | Facebook
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